


Sleeping Love

by Ealasaid, writeyourownstory



Series: Hallmark Channel [5]
Category: 1917 (Movie 2019)
Genre: Afghanistan, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blakefield, Canon-Typical Violence, Coma, Hallmark AU, Injury Recovery, M/M, Physical Disability, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Slow Burn, Trauma, War, chatfic, soldier and war correspondent AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27612104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ealasaid/pseuds/Ealasaid, https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeyourownstory/pseuds/writeyourownstory
Summary: Rewrite of the Hallmark movie "Timeless Love."A rewrite in which Will Schofield is a war correspondent; Ben Richards is his photographer buddy; Tom is a soldier in the convoy they're traveling with; and then there's an IED.
Relationships: Joseph Blake & Tom Blake, Lieutenant Richards & William Schofield, Tom Blake & William Schofield, Tom Blake/William Schofield
Series: Hallmark Channel [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988683
Kudos: 2





	Sleeping Love

**Author's Note:**

> Originally brainstormed/chatstormed on September 13th, 2020!

**butler is boo:** Ok ok ok ok  
Here’s the synopsis for the one on right now:  
So ok, a woman apparently has like the perfect life—a husband, two kids, and a lovely home—but then WAKES UP FROM A COMA and finds out she was never married and never had kids? o.0  
I don’t....think I’ve ever seen this one.....  
And like, the guy she was apparently married to in her coma is actually a real guy (idk his relation to her at this time) so she decides to make him fall in love with her for real so she can have that perfect life again  
But get _this_ : she obviously isn’t falling for “perfect coma husband”, she’s falling for another photographer (I guess she’s one too? Idk I’m not paying attention)  
Wait hang on, no—photographer guy is the same as “perfect husband” guy so yeah. She’s falling for him. And now she’s having to explain all of this to him and wow. He thinks she’s insane 😂

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** Uhhhh  
Wow  
Got NO WORDS  
ummmm?  
who thought that was a good plot???  
uM  
okay  
Blakefield  
they are . . . soldiers. Can be modern AU or not

 **butler is boo:** I _know_ RIGHT???  
Hallmark is getting _weird_  
Ok yes, but _which_ Blakefield?

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** LMAO ME ALL THE TIME

 **b** **utler is boo:** 😂😂😂

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** okay so  
it's gonna be Will/Tom  
Tom is a soldier in, erm, Afghanistan  
or wherever

 **butler is boo:** Ok ok

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** he's young, he's cocky, but v sweet and all that  
military family -- his brother is also deployed  
Will is a war correspondent

 **b** **utler is boo:** Okaaaaaaay  
🤔

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** former soldier, now correspondent and, given that it's effing Iraq/Afghanistan, also acts part-time as a photographer  
(his photographer partner is Ben)  
(who is an arse but a good friend)  
(Ben sometimes helps him with the phrasing of his articles and shit. they work well together, that's it)  
anyway  
Tom is part of a convoy that Will & Ben are traveling with and Tom hasn't really met any of them or anything but  
IEDs, man  
Tom, Will, & Ben are the survivors -- Ben is calling for backup and Will is trying to save Tom's life

 **butler is boo:** Oh yessssss

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** "Got to stop the bleeding" he reassures Tom, who's like "who the fuck even are you"

 **b** **utler is boo:** (This is already a better start WOW 🤩)

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** etc. etc. They are all evacuated in time but like, it's a hellish five minutes where Tom is slowly losing consciousness and Will is just desperately trying to keep him alive, Tom holding onto him the entire time and so terribly scared

 **butler is boo:** 🥺🥺🥺🥺

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** so he's evacuated and Will and Ben continue doing their war correspondent thing  
it's absolute shite for Will, who didn't have an incredibly difficult tour when he first started? this is the first time he's held someone he thought was dying  
and he doesn't know what happened to Tom after they were evacuated  
and he's just having a hard time. Ben does as much as he can to jolly Will out of it but, like, they're in a war

 **b** **utler is boo:** Oh he’s worried about Tom even tho he doesn’t know him 😭

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** there's only so much they can do for each other. for God's sake, there isn't even any decent alcohol

 **butler is boo:** Oh yes 🥺 they’re right I’m the thick of it too

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** YEP  
at some point they run into a Lieutenant Blake and Will's like -- "sorry, sorry -- do you have a brother? It's just you look really familiar to this other Blake I've met" and Joseph has NO idea who this bloke is  
just neutrally is "I've a younger brother, yeah. He's out on medical at the moment," and Will's like "oh, okay, thank you" and just is still like ??????  
but you know, at least he knows that young soldier is alive!

 **b** **utler is boo:** **👏**

**Lt. Richards is** **bae:** (Tom is in a coma)  
and he's got this lovely life with his older, journalist boyfriend  
who is sooooooo gentle and sweet  
((and Will did introduce himself somewhere around when he was trying to hold Tom's guts in or something))  
and Tom's just like "man I didn't even know I was gay but I can't imagine life without Will" etc etc  
. . . and then he wakes up at some point  
and is just  
_shattered  
_not ONLY is his lovely life with his wonderful boyfriend _not real_

 **butler is boo:** 🥺🥺🥺🥺

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** he's still trapped in a hospital bed, recovering from -- idk, having his leg blown off? and a concussion? and being in a coma? idk whatever debilitating injuries we want to give him  
I'm shaky on IED injuries

 **b** **utler is boo:** Ooooooo  
Dude we can totally blow his leg off, no biggie 🤷

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** okay!  
so he lost his leg and had a concussion that put him in a coma or they put him in a coma or something idk  
he just  
conked out and never woke up  
so anyway, he has to do all the therapy and stuff and he's just totally lost

 **butler is boo:** Like, everything he saw just seemed so _real_ and he’s devastated when he woke up

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** YES  
also he wasn't dreaming of being a cripple  
and now he's that, too

 **b** **utler is boo:** 🥺😩😭

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** and he's just   
so aghast at his current condition and it makes the dream seem even more hideously laughable  
who would marry a guy who can't even walk??? (like he knows he'll be able to, but still. he can't at the moment)  
hmmmm anyway  
idk where they'd keep him  
like I'd think they'd evac him to a more permanent facility, possibly at home? idk  
but let's say he's somewhere in Afghanistan, still

 **butler is boo:** Yeah I think that’s how it’s done  
Trying to get up enough strength to be transferred

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** like they didn't want to move him what with how he was in a coma  
and as it so happens  
like, the day before he's being transferred, now that he's awake  
He's moping in bed, bored out of his mind  
and one of the nurses pokes his/her head in and is like "oh hey, you're awake -- we have this journalist here doing a thing on IEDs, you wanna talk about it?"  
and Tom's like "a journalist? what?" and then he's like 😳 _what if it's HIM_  
AND LO AND BEHOLD IT IS  
(POV switch)

 **b** **utler is boo:** **👏** **👏** **👏** **👏** **👏**

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** Will walks in with Ben, he's doing this thing for the newspaper but he's like, really hoping maybe he'll be able to inquire about a Thomas Blake at the end of this bit  
and is _floored_ because THIS IS THOMAS BLAKE  
he recognises him instantly!!  
and he just stops in the doorway and gapes (and for a horrible moment from Tom's perspective, it's like "oh, god -- he's horrified, he thinks I'm ugly, fuck")  
and then he just _beams_

 **butler is boo:** 😭😭😭  
YAS

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** he's just _so relieved_ this kid is _alive_  
(Tom sees the smile and his heart _lifts)  
_and Will's just like "My GOD, thank God you're okay. I mean, are you okay?? What are the odds???????"

 **b** **utler is boo:** (Ugh cause it’s the smile in his _dreams_ 🥺)

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** (YES OMG I DIDN'T THINK OF THAT BUT YES)  
and Tom's just acting on automatic and his smart-ass reply is "Thought about me a lot, have you?" with a 😏  
and then is like 😳 and then his smile drops a bit and Will's like "Jesus, of course"

 **butler is boo:** 😂 omg _Tom_

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** "I think I met your brother but I couldn't find out anything about how you turned out"  
(Ben, in the corner, is like 😯 and then like 😏)  
the nurse is like "uhhh did you guys know each other already?"  
and Tom's like "this is the bloke who saved my life!"

 **b** **utler is boo:** (Internally: And my fucking husband while I was in a coma so yeah I know him! 😂)

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** and then is just trying to bluster through this bc he's still got all the instincts of being all cocky and shit but like  
\--well he's just gonna roll with it, fuck it  
waves Will over and like awkwardly side-hugs him and just grins as though he's still whole and turns on the charm because _fuck. it._

 **butler is boo:** _like he’s still whole, fuck you that’s so heartbreaking_ 🥺😭😭😭

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** 👀  
_you know me_

 **b** **utler is boo:** 😂😂😂

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** 😏  
anyhoo  
tl;dr they hit it off and at the end Will introduces himself and Ben properly and Tom is like _I will nooooooooot tell him_  
and he doesn't! he just stays as charming and cocky as he can and gets their information  
and then they leave and Tom's like  
_over the moon_  
but also exhausted  
and also also just like "that went well, but will he even remember who I am?"  
anyway fast forward like six months or something  
Tom went home and wow it has been rough  
and just  
he never really got in touch with Will bc the best he can do is emailing him and like, the one time they tried to get together in between Will being out in Afghanistan, there was some awful timing and like some family emergency so  
Tom's just having fun (/s) PTSD times and p despondent

 **butler is boo:** (Oooooo they’re trying to stay in contact nice!)  
Poor bb 😔😩🥺😭

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** Joseph's tour is finally up and he's NOT signing on for another one, he's done  
and besides, mum and dad have been quietly telling him about Tom and stuff and Joseph can get some work at home and they're all just in agreement he should come home to help with Tom  
(cuz there's some nasty things with IEDs that cause brain trauma -- it apparently doesn't combine with PTSD well at _ALL,_ I remember hearing about that on NPR)  
(we'll be vague on details but yeah)  
Tom's got a prosthetic and he can walk fairly normally but like, the stump is still building up callous and he's still adjusting to having a fake leg and bllargh he's got issues  
anyway Joe comes home and after a week or so is like "oh so are you still in touch with that journalist?"

 **b** **utler is boo:** ( _ooooo this is so much better just_ 👌😭)

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** and Tom's totally thrown for a loop, he tries not to think about the dream anymore  
it just seems like such a cruel lie  
but Joe's like "no yeah, I ran into him again, he was asking after you -- said something about not hearing from you in a while"  
"I think he's coming home soon, though, he said he was due for like a year's stint at the home office"  
"you should get in touch"

 **butler is boo:** 🙌😭🙌 YESSSS

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** Tom's grumpy/depressed enough that he just snipes back some self-defeating shite  
and Joe's like 😯🤨  
(in some combo)  
(somehow)

 **b** **utler is boo:** 😂

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** and ends up getting the whole story out of Tom, dream and all  
and is like "okay so why can't that happen, exactly?"  
Tom's like "sorry have you forgotten about how my leg is gone now"  
and Joe's like "are you fucking kidding me"  
and tom's like "I DON'T EVEN KNOW HE'S GAY. I don't even know _I'M_ gay!!!"  
Joe's like 🙄

 **b** **utler is boo:** Joe: _jesus my brothers a moron_

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** ^^^

 **butler is boo:** (I can only imagine that Ben is acting the exact same way with Will, who is most likely fretting just the same as Tom 😂)

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** Will has less of a horse in the race  
and Ben's like "eh" honestly

 **b** **utler is boo:** 😂

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** Will likes Tom, sure, but he's not been like fixated on him? He just wants to know that guy is doing alright  
and like. He thought Tom was a cheerful guy and he liked how friendly he was  
but he's busy, he's not necessarily looking for romance at the moment

 **butler is boo:** Oh yes definitely

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** STILL  
he knows realistically what Tom's probably going through but Will hasn't any right to like, barge in on Tom's life, anyway  
but he does enquire after him and so on with Joseph and yeah!  
anyway, Joseph doesn't even bother with Tom, he just gets in touch with Will himself  
and is like "sorry about how awkward this is and I haven't any right but my brother's being a prat and having trouble readjusting to now being a 'legless gimp' (his words) but he still talks about you a lot and if it's not too much trouble, would you be able to drop by the next time you're back in the country?"

 **b** **utler is boo:** YAS JOE YASSSSS

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** and Will's like "not awkward at all! sorry to hear he's having a hard time. I'd be happy to come by. Here's my phone number when I'm in country, I'll be back in like two weeks"  
and they totally plan it  
Joe lets Tom know literally that morning that they're going out to get lunch and a pint with a friend of Joe's and Tom's like "ugh fine" but out of the house is out of the house

 **b** **utler is boo:**

**Lt. Richards is** **bae:** and it's fUCKING WILL  
(and Ben)  
(who's coming along because reasons)  
(and to make it seem less like Joe is forcing his brother on a playdate)  
and Tom is like 😳 but . . . surprisingly delighted?  
he didn't think it would raise his mood this much  
so it's an awesome lunch and between Ben and Joe and Will (who's trying his hardest not to be the quiet one, which he usually is)  
and w/e by the end of it Tom is cheered immensely and gets Will's contact info and they're hitting it off just fine  
and this is still slow-burn LOL  
like the movie ends with them trading contact info!  
the after is like, over the next year Will & Tom become actual irl friends

 **butler is boo:** YES!!! FIGHT THE HALLMARK STEREOTYPES!!  
(And Tom still thinks about the dream sometimes and longs for it but having will as his friend and getting to know him for real is just so exciting and so much better)

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** YES  
though  
about six months in when they're really way more comfortable with each other and texting every day and stuff  
Tom does let it slip about the dream  
plays it off as a laugh like "it made no sense! I didn't even think I was gay! but I'll be damned if it wasn't just the nicest thing"  
and Will's like 😳

 **b** **utler is boo:** **👏** **👏** **👏** **👏**

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** bc the more he's gotten to know Tom, the more he's been like "this guy is . . . 😳"  
so then he's like "oh, really? and was I an excellent husband, then?"  
but his tone is just . . . . the slightest bit too serious to be a joke  
and Tom's like "oh yeah"  
_clears his throat_ "um. I won't lie, I was a bit disappointed to wake up and find out it wasn't real"  
Will's all "oh, well, I'd be too"

 **butler is boo:** _bless_ 😩

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** and then after a beat of silence where Tom's like 😯  
Will's just all awkwardly "so you wanna go on a date sometime?"

 **b** **utler is boo:** YASSSSSS  
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** Tom's like just. still trying to figure out if this is a joke or not. "are you serious?" a bit nervously  
Will: "Yeah. Yeah, I mean -- why not?"

 **b** **utler is boo:** 😭😭😭😭

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** and then Tom just _smiles_

 **butler is boo:** _that is just too sweet_

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** and is like "Yeah, alright then" (a bit shyly)  
and that's that!  
(they date for a few years and then get married like, four years later)

 **b** **utler is boo:** FUCK YESSSS  


**Lt. Richards is** **bae:**

**butler is boo:** Oh this one was just TOO CUTE omg 🥰

 **Lt. Richard is bae:** not too angsty, yaaaaaaas

 **b** **utler is boo:** (Well the whole leg being blown off thing is a _bit_ angsty 😂)

 **Lt. Richards is** **bae:** (well ok yeah lol)

**Author's Note:**

>  _I can't tell if I like this Blakefield bc it's not fluff or bc we turned a really dumb Hallmark movie premise to something, like, remotely plausible?_ ~E
> 
>  _Probably both, hon. It’s most definitely both. LOL Still working on the rights to Hallmark so we can get these out there. They’re fighting us though. XD_ ~W


End file.
